These days, whenever I open up a new document to start on a Tiny Wooden Pieces script, my first thought is always “Script number 093? – wow. That’s a lot of comics.” When we started, I never imagined we would get this far. I’m not sure how far I did think we would get, if I’m honest. Writing a comic a week, every single week, about board games, is not something I figured I’d be able to do this long. I mean, I love board games, and I love comics. I just didn’t think I’d be able to keep it going. People do actually ask me quite often how I come up with ideas every week, and the honest truth is I don’t like to think about it. If I think about it too much I think it’ll scare me. Or worse, scare the ideas off. So the creative process is, essentially, don’t think about it until I have to, and then hope really hard I don’t draw a blank when I do have to think about it (usually about Sunday when I’m thinking – oh sh*t next week is like, one day away).

And sure, some weeks are better than others, and some weeks are, well, probably just plain weak, but 93 comics later, here we are. Headed towards 100. And with a strong readership, who I look forward to talking to in the comments every week.

If you didn’t see last week, we are taking a break for a few weeks over Christmas, to rest, recharge, play board games, and come back to the comic with new ideas and renewed energy. Being able to make the comic every week is a privilege, and I’m looking forward to another year of it, but we do feel that we will be better for the time off.

But! Fear not! The site will still update, and there will still be new comics every week. Christmas is saved! I have rounded up some amazingly talented friends of ours and – using charm, bribes, lies, and on one occasion, a box of matches and a wet newspaper – convinced them to do a series of guest comics. The comics will be in keeping with our usual subject matter, but will allow for some new voices and styles. At this stage the artwork has started to come in, and I’m honestly very excited for the next three weeks of comics. I’m so excited, in fact, that I have already started to plan guest comics for next year. True story.

I will also still be updating with a blog post every week, and responding to comments, so stay with us and make our new creators feel welcome. You guys are a great audience, and I’d love for them to feel really involved with the site and community.

On a final point, without looking it up, I honestly am never sure about the answer to that dice question. And it’s one of those things that, five minutes after looking it up, I will have forgotten again.

My little brother arrived home with a bag full of games for us, including Coup (as witnessed above), Hanabi, and some add-ons for Star Realms and Netrunner. Coup was good fun – it’s a lighter Mascarade that’s quicker to play, a really good opener for an evening.

But it was Hanabi that really left an impression on me. I love games that tell stories, and I’m beginning to understand that I also love games that engage me in different ways as well. After being on our shelf longer than almost any other game in our collection, Pandemic is still one of our most played games (yes, we’re fairly new to this). Pandemic is as much as puzzle as it is a game, and it is a fiendish one. Planning ahead and coordination between players is as essential as striking a balance between keeping the infections at bay and gathering resources to ultimately cure them. It’s not a game where players idly chat in between turns. During a game of Pandemic, everyone is talking, and thinking about the game. It’s tense, engaging, and I love it.

If season four of Game of Thrones taught us anything, it’s that Tyrion doesn’t have the field to himself when it comes to Westeros’ Man of the Year awards (at least amongst fans, in Westeros itself, Geoffrey buys the accolade every year). From a House that hadn’t much mention, let alone screen time on the series to date, came one of the show’s more memorable characters. The Red Viper of Dorne single-handedly managed to spark interest in that Southern part of the Game of Thrones board game map. Of course, those who have read the novels will argue and counter this point, but as soon as anyone who has read ahead opens their mouth I stick my fingers in my ears to avoid spoilers, and so remain happily oblivious to their protestations.

The Resistance is a good game to talk about how we here at Tiny Wooden Pieces feel about boardgames. There is very little ‘game’ to it, in a manner of speaking. You get some cards and some tokens, and a small board to keep track of them during the game. That is it. The Resistance is all about player interaction.

Some of the most fun I have ever had playing games has been with The Resistance, and I have had some evenings where I’ve brought it to the table and it’s fallen almost embarrassingly, awkwardly flat. Where players just didn’t buy into it. It’s absolutely a game you can use to introduce non-gamer friends to the joys of boardgames, or just bring down the pub (sleeves recommended, here) or bring out at a family gathering. If people are willing to give it a try, to put themselves into the game, they will get a great evening out of it. If not, and you might as well be playing Connect 4. (more…)